RIT men's hockey looks to rebound from two down years with one of NCAA's top scoring lines

Tigers return 20 veterans and after two down years, hope to return to challenge for another Atlantic Hockey title, NCAA berth. (Oct. 11, 2018)
Leo Roth, @leoroth

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RIT forward Erik Brown skates with the puck during the Atlantic Hockey semifinal against Air Force at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial in Rochester on Friday, March 18, 2016. Brown, now a senior, scored 29 goals last season.(Photo: 2016 file photo)Buy Photo

Story Highlights

RIT's top line produced 47 goals, 104 points in 2017-18 and returns intact

After Erik Brown scored 29 goals last season, establishing a new Division I school record and finishing third in the nation, fans of Rochester Institute of Technology men's hockey are asking “What can he do for an encore?’’

What they can quit wondering about is whether the Keene, Ontario, native will put pressure on himself to repeat the feat or do better.

"I can only go out each game and play the best I can and put the puck in the net as much as possible,’’ Brown said. “I don’t know if there’s a specific number I’m aiming for, but it would be up there because I set my bar high. But it’s really game to game. That’s my mindset, game to game, I guess.’’

Game to game and year to year, RIT has established a reputation as one of the top programs in college hockey. However, after consecutive losing seasons, the Tigers are particularly hungry and motivated to hold up their tradition.

The regular season opens with a two-game set at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell on Friday and Saturday before RIT hosts Colgate on Saturday, Oct. 20, at Blue Cross Arena in its annual Brick City Weekend game.

Since winning back-to-back Atlantic Hockey Conference postseason tournaments and qualifying for the NCAAs in 2015 and 2016, the Tigers have posted 14-22-1 and 15-20-2 seasons culminating with hard-fought first-round losses to Niagara and Sacred Heart, respectively, in the playoffs.

Coach Wayne Wilson, who begins his 20th season behind the bench, called the last two years “very disappointing.’’ But they were also an opportunity to reflect and refocus following RIT’s tremendously successful first decade at the Division I level.

During that decade, the Tigers won four AHC championships, three postseason tournaments, qualified for three NCAAs and advanced to one Frozen Four.

RIT recorded 13 wins over nationally ranked teams, won 180 conference games overall, sent 40 players to the pros and, oh yeah, built a new rink on campus.

The program was due to exhale.

Wayne Wilson starts his 20th season behind the bench for RIT men's hockey. He's the Tigers' career record leader at 349-237-63, including 181-111-40 in Division I conference play for Atlantic Hockey.(Photo: Carlos Ortiz, Carlos Ortiz, Yes)

Dating to RIT’s national championship teams at Division II and III in the 1980s, any player staying all four years on the Henrietta campus has experienced winning at least one regular-season or post-season title.

Going two years without one means RIT is “on the clock,’’ Wilson said.

“Time for another push, for RIT to be back on top,’’ he said. “We’ve told our recruits we can win a championship. You look at our tradition and it’s time to pick it up. A lot of coaches like their teams this time of year, but I think we’re a bit more mature in areas that were weaknesses for us. We need a good start but our second half, we need to make sure we’re healthy and getting better so that we can make some noise at the end of the year.’’

Most comforting for Wilson is the return of left winger Brown and his on-ice sidekicks — center Gabe Valenzuela and right winger Abbott Girduckis. That trio forms one of the top scoring lines in the country.

“They have great chemistry, all with individual aspects to their game, but it’s their unselfishness that makes them go, and they like playing with each other,’’ said Wilson, whose team tied for 13th nationally with 3.08 goals per game. “They’ve had success and they can lean on that.’’

Like all great lines, all the parts fit.

The powerful 5-6, 200-pound Valenzuela is the point guard, great on draws and controlling the puck; the 6-1, 186-pound Girduckis is a deft playmaker with all-around skills and smarts; and the 6-2, 201-pound Brown is dominant in front of the net and finishes.

“We just complement each other really well,’’ said Brown, who scored a pair of goals in last week’s 5-2 exhibition win over Wilfrid Laurier University. “With Gabe’s all-around attributes, my ability to grind, go in the corners, find those soft areas, and for Abbott to make those passes, it all just seems to work.’’

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RIT forward Gabe Valenzuela enters his senior year with 84 career points and has a strong shot at the 100-point milestone. He centers RIT's top line with Erik Brown and Abbott Girduckis.(Photo: 2016 file photo)

Brown, who needs four goals to become RIT’s career Division I goal scoring leader, has 86 career points and with Valenzuela (84) has a shot at the 100-point milestone.

“He’s a monster,’’ Valenzuela said of Brown. “He just doesn’t stop moving his feet, he’s dominant in front of the net and he has a scoring touch. He has all the key qualities. I just try and move the puck, play with Girdy a bit and get the puck to Brownie in front of the net and he’ll put it away.’’

The defense is led by juniors Adam Brubacher, a former AHC Rookie of the Year, who notched 9-15 – 24 last season, Chris McKay, Darren Brady and Brody Valette, and sophomores Dan Willett and Regan Seiferling.

The three returning goaltenders are senior Christian Short (6-6-0, 3.02 goals against) and sophomores Logan Drackett (7-10-2, 3.44) and Ian Andriano (2-4-0, 3.39). Wilson will look for one to emerge as the No. 1 keeper this season.

“It’s great to have the one line back but the bigger impact will come from continued improvement of our juniors,’’ said Wilson, who gave playing time to a lot of freshmen and sophomores the last two seasons to get through rough injury periods. “They’ve had to grow up fast.’’

As freshmen, RIT’s seniors were part of a team that finished fifth in the conference before winning the postseason tournament and earning an NCAA berth.

“A great senior class, it made it seem like winning was so easy,’’ Valenzuela said.

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Erik Brown (16) enters his senior season with 86 career points for RIT.(Photo: Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Atlantic Hockey has become much stronger top to bottom over time; the conference upped the number of scholarships that can be offered from 12 to the NCAA maximum of 18 in 2016.

Because of its Division III status in all other sports, RIT is prohibited from handing out scholarships.

That’s not an excuse for the Tigers, just incentive.

“All statistics aside, we want to be a championship team this year, and not just Atlantic Hockey, we want to push for that national championship,’’ Brown said. “We have a group of guys who can do it, the skill, the team unity.

“Going through that our freshman year was special, seeing how the team was led in certain ways and trying to embody some of those leadership characteristics we saw our freshman year should be beneficial for us. That was my first ever championship, so it was awesome. Having that in mind and how sweet that tasted, hopefully we can bottle that up and serve it to the rest of team in little ways, so they can get an idea of what it feels like.’’

LROTH@Gannett.com

A not so sweet home

One goal of RIT hockey is to play better on home ice. Since the opening of the Gene Polisseni Center in 2014-15, the Tigers are 27-39-5 overall at home and just 17-34-2 the past three seasons. RIT was 6-13-0 the last two seasons on home ice vs. 17-16-1 away.

The past four years, RIT is 23-31-5 against Atlantic Hockey foes on home ice and 32-18-6 away. From 2006 to 2012, the early portion of their jump to Division I, the Tigers were 59-12-12 at cozy Ritter Arena, which had a 185-foot surface compared to 200 feet.

RIT won Division II and III national titles on that rink, and advanced to a Frozen Four at the Division I level.

“We have to do a better job,’’ said coach Wayne Wilson, entering his 20th season. “I can speak on behalf of Ritter, the ice surface was smaller, the fans were right on top of you, the visiting room wasn’t very nice and it was very, very hot – the hot water pipes went right through the visitor’s locker room.

“It was very uncomfortable for teams, things happened quicker because it’s 15 feet shorter,’’ Wilson continued. “Now I think we’ve built a very beautiful rink and made it very comfortable for visitors. But it’s not up to the building, it’s up to our team to make them feel uncomfortable and that’s on us. I think teams also get excited about playing in our building, great fans, it’s a cool spot. But it’s on us to get on teams early, get them uncomfortable early, and we haven’t done a good job of that from coaches on through the players and taken advantage of a great situation here. We love it here, but we’ve got to do a better job with win-loss.’’